How to pronounce "ficam em"

Portuguese Questions Pronunciation
1

I just learnt “Eles ficam em casa”, but “ficam em” on Practice Portuguese sounds like “fico em” to me, Instead of “fi-kam-eng” that I would expect.

Is it a special way to pronounce -am followed by em?

2

@daaaarcy, the sentence is pronounced as demonstrated in the exercise, and there’s no change from how either word would be pronounced individually:

Just keep in mind that we don’t close the lips to articulate ending Ms – they’re simply indicators of nasal resonance. In fact, the “-am” sound is the same as the “-ão” sound :slight_smile:

1 Like
3

Thanks, Joseph, but the word “ficam” itself sounds an M at the end (close lips).

4

You’re welcome, @daaaarcy. The lips are actually only pursed, just as they are when forming the O vowel in -ão endings. They don’t close entirely. If it helps, imagine yourself saying “ficão em casa” → that’s just the right sound and lip shape.